Changes Changes

 Well, let's start at the beginning and say that we brought a souvenir and a little magic back from Disney World in the form of baby 2!  Baby is due Jan 28th or so and we do not yet know boy or girl.  When we ask Kaelyn whether she wants a baby brother or baby sister she answers differently every time.  She also sometimes talks to my belly, pats it, and says "hi baby!" which is very sweet.  She probably has no idea what it all really means for her life, but at least she's in the know!  We have even asked her for name ideas.  She said a boy should be kitty cat and a girl tummy once.  Another time a boy should be brother and a girl draw.  So we'll keep working on that... :)

 In the meantime, she probably first has to get used to the fact that my lap is getting smaller every day.  But so far, there's still room for her.  She will have to learn to sit beside me soon enough.  :)  She has recently started calling me Mommy more often instead of Mama.  I don't really know why or how that changed.  IT started out just being during nap times.  She would call Mommy when she wanted to get up.  But now it's more all of the time.

She's also in her big girl bed now!  That change happened shortly after we found out about the baby.  She was getting kind of big for the crib anyways and we wanted to make the adjustment sooner rather than later.  We painted the other bedroom we have and put stars and a moon on the wall and she LOVED that.  We put up a big bed and she slept like 12 hours the first night.  Course, we had just come back from a camping trip and that always wears her out.  The funny thing is that the bed overlaps the window a tiny bit and she actually sleeps more up on the bookcase-like headboard than on the actual bed.  EVery time I go in to get her she is laying up there, looking out the window.  It doesn't look very comfortable to me, but she has been sleeping well in it!  She doesn't get out of bed at all by herself.  She always waits for me to come get her and we snuggle for a bit before venturing back out into the world again.  It's a sweet time of the day that I thoroughly enjoy.  Think she'll let me do that when she's a teen too?! :)

This summer we took Kaelyn to Bible School at our church and she had a great time.  I was really glad we went because she had fun playing games and doing crafts and eating snacks and so on.  I then told her that she would get to go to  preschool this fall and do all of the same things.  The only difference was that mama couldn't stay.  I don't think she fully understood that part of it...until today.

Today was Kaelyn's first day of preschool.  I think I was more nervous than she was.  I hadn't slept much in two nights.  She seemed excited but I knew she didn't fully understand the fact that I wasn't staying there with her.  She talked about playing games and having snacks etc, but she would always say "Mommy watch you?" I would tell her no, preschool was just for kids and teachers, but I don't think she ever fully comprehended that.

Her preschool starts at 8am, which is really early for us to get going, but she's been getting up pretty early the last few weeks so I knew it was possible.  We got out the door with no problem.  Though I started crying in the car ride to the preschool. :)  When we got to the classroom she played for a while and I found a train set I knew she'd like so we got that out.  I thought it might make her feel more comfortable since she loves trains so much.  When I finally had to go I told her I was going and she said "snuggle mommy?"  Oh come on!  Heartbreaking!  So I snuggled her a little longer and then simply had to walk out.  Sean stayed a few more minutes to calm her and then he left too.  He said she had a pouty look on her face but wasn't crying when he left.

The next two hours were quite long and I cried for much of it.  When I went to pick her up she had that same pouty look on her face and came running to me and clung to me like glue.  She told me they had fruit snacks and juice and played outside, though, so it wasn't all bad!  And the teacher said she did really well and stuck really close to the teacher.  She was impressed she knew her letters and numbers and they played train and Kaelyn asked to make supper for her and all sorts of things.  I was glad that Kaelyn vocalized things and talked to her.  She doesn't often talk around people she doesn't know so I wasn't sure she would.  Sounds like she survived okay.  The teacher said when the music teacher came into the room, Kaelyn had a setback and was very shy and near crying again but she recovered quickly and all was well again.  So it's good to hear she wasn't tortured with crying the whole time at least.  We'll see how Thursday goes!

I know I will enjoy the extra time that I will get for the next few months when she is in preschool and before the baby is born.  It won't last, but it's something.  Still, it was REALLY hard being away from her today. It's weird, there are times when all I want is to get away.  But today, I WAS away and all I wanted was to be running around the house playing beach ball and trains with her.  These days, it's what I do best!!  My little girl is growing up.  Can I keep her little longer somehow???